The roads, bridges, public drinking and water systems, dams, airports and mass transit systems in the US are in need of massive restoration. This is what the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) said in its 2017 Infrastructure Report Card, an assessment of the nation's infrastructure that comes out every 4 years. The organization evaluated it with an overall grade of D+, the same score as in 2013, pointing out that the country will need to invest $4.59 trillion by 2025 to improve its condition.

A new chart released by BCA, an independent investment research company, shows that infrastructure spending on non-defense structures has seen a significant drop from roughly $325 billion in 2002 to under $250 billion in 2013. It is important to note that this data includes both state and federal spending. State investment in infrastructure has been very low since the recession began, and it is expected that this spending will increase in the future.